


Northwoods Lullaby

by Morrigan_Healy



Category: A Little Less Sixteen Candles a Little More "Touch Me" - Fall Out Boy (Song), Bandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - A Little Less Sixteen Candles (Music Video), F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 05:14:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15135899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morrigan_Healy/pseuds/Morrigan_Healy
Summary: 2.5 years after the fall of the Dandies in , Amelia and AJ are living peacefully in Northern WI, with Carden and Chislett. Branches fell and decaying leaves swirled into tornados, eased only by the autumn muteness of their angry colours. With the changing of the season comes the changing of one's fears - these are not tamed as the wind and bright colours. INCOMPLETE / HIATUS.





	1. Chapter 1

The wind howled along the rooftops and trees of the small northern neighborhood, windowpanes rattling as shutters whipped here and there. Branches fell and decaying leaves swirled into tornados, eased only by the autumn muteness of their angry colours. And of course, pumpkins were carved, and seasonal lattes craved. But the one thing that comes with the changing of the seasons that all forget is the changing of one's fears - and these are not so easily tamed as the wind and bright colours.

"Lights tonight, please?"

It's enough to cause both older vampires to nearly snort with disbelief, after the movie the four have just watched neither expected to hear this.

"One of you is immortal and the other literally can rip someone's heart out through their throat, and yet a movie like this reduces you to acting childish. It's quite endearing." The words are out before the raven haired vampire can stop them; green eyes focused entirely on the blonde in front of him, her curls framing the pout she was currently sporting.

"Yeah well that's what you get. You know where we live, why would you choose something like that?" The brunette beside her argued, shaking her head. "I don't care, I'm sleeping with the lights on. Or near something I can throw."

"Fair enough, knowing this one-" Mike started before Michael cut him off, "Shelia, you worry too much. Once you close your eyes it's dark anyways, what's it matter?"

"Not the point." It was a mock growl from the demon hostess, who rolled her eyes as she threw her hands up in surrender before slipping off the couch to stretch.

"I'm going to bed. Any of you bug me, you might actually die."

With a wave she turned and headed out of the room, climbing the stairs to her attic bedroom.

Amelia liked the quiet and stillness of the attic, it allowed her a greater vantage point through the windows there, and she didn't have to deal with hearing everything above her - at the mansion, that had been hell when she was in the parlour or kitchen. The wind lightly whistled in the early October night, and it was actually comforting. Atleast tonight she was fairly confident there wouldn't be disturbances from downstairs, AJ had a knack for winding up in her room after midnight snacks somehow.

At the knock on her door, Amelia sighed. Walking to open it, she wasn't surprised to find Michael on the other side of the door.

"Michael, what're you doing? I'm going to sleep." Amelia repeated, somewhat annoyed. The Australian only gave her a soft smile, reaching to move stray hairs out of her face as her took in her tired eyes before nodding in acknowledgement.

"Just came to say g'night, seeing as it got awkward fast as soon as you left." He explained, leaning down to kiss her forehead, thumbs brushing across her cheeks.

"Fucking hell I swear to god, I go downstairs for water and they're- ugh. I thought she and William were bad, hell." She grumbled, before sitting down on her bed and looking at him.

"It's worse the younger a vampire is," Michael admitted before continuing, "I'd rather not go back downstairs considering I have to walk past that, but s'what I get." he shrugged, "Unless you'd rather I stay here?" The grin that followed had Amelia internally giggling, dare she follow AJ's lead just this once? It would be nowhere near the first time she and Michael had slept together, but under the pretext of a late night scary movie and the nagging promise of nightmares from said movie, it really didn't seem like a bad idea.

"You know I have this room for a reason, I like to keep the business we're in and us separate," she started admonishingly as she beckoned him further into the room, scooting slightly on the worn comforter.

"I know, but with that movie? I know you, Rae. Trust me."

It was her turn to smile as she slid off the bed to turn down the comforter, nodding.

"And cuddling's proven to reduce anxiety," she recalled, remembering how AJ had babbled over supposed medical 'facts' between hunts. "So why not?"

Climbing in, she scooted over on the twin to allow him in beside her. An automatic sighed left her lips as she felt herself relax into him, his arms winding around her in a more than familiar protective manner.

"D'ya ever think there's things worse than us out there?" She asked after a few moments, eyes opening again.

He laughed softly, adjusting slightly to kiss her neck.

"Of course, love. Don't doubt there aren't."

Her eyes slipped shut as she murmured something in agreement, but it was too quiet to make out what'd she said. Within a few minutes her breathing had evened, and Michael was able to reach over and flip the small bedside table lamp off.

It wasn't so bad in the dark, he'd grown used to it. Though he was a daywalker however, and unlike most vampires, could appreciate the sun for the light it gave off. Senses were more accurate at night though, they always were. And her question had piqued his interest - of course there were things worse than vampires and demons out there, she hunted them for a living, she knew that. But why would she ask?

Here in the dark it was quiet, except the sounds of Amelia breathing - and somewhere from the pine woods nearby, wolves howled.

The next morning, Amelia rose as sunlight filtered through her blinds. She stretched with a yawn and began her morning routine, which consisted of yoga, journaling and meditation. After, she dressed for the day and made her way downstairs.

Walking downstairs, she found Michael in the kitchen already making breakfast for her, a few glasses of blood for himself and the other two set next to the nearby one of orange juice that was for her.

Grabbing the glass, she smiled.

"I actually slept better last night, thank you. Where's-" she wondered before he turned around to slide pancakes off onto a plate, "Couch. Let 'em sleep."

"But you guys don't sleep, do you?"

"Well no, but certain chemicals can mess with brain activity, mimicking the need for naps," he explained.

"I don't even wanna know. Thanks for breakfast, forgot what pancakes tasted like. With the recent jobs and all, AJ and I have been so busy it feels like we don't even get time to just be still for a moment, y'know? I was going to check and see if we've gotten anymore requests in, but I think I'll let that go until atleast the afternoon."

He nodded, "Sounds like a good idea. When you two came home after the last one, I was sure one of you was going to give that whole life up. Don't you get tired of that?"

"What, killing things and getting paid? Not really. Even though it's damned near killed me a few times, thanks to your old boss." Amelia shrugged in hindsight, thinking back to almost two years ago now to when William had tried to kill both her and AJ twice in the same week.

And yes, at times it got monotonous, but it was that monotony that kept routine.

After finishing her pancakes, she set the plate in the sink and leaned slightly against it as she waited for Michael to turn around. When he did, she grinned and reached for his face.

"What's gotten into you? Last night it was about keeping work and us seper-" he tried before she cut him off by pressing their lips together, she trying to balance against the counter like how AJ had often mentioned.

When the kiss had to break because she had started laughing, he gave her a look.

"Just wanted to say good morning?" She explained as he ruffled her hair.

"More like I think you spend too much time with Adeline, but I'm perfectly alright with that. It's a certain kind of payback for the last seven years." He pointed out before leaning back into her, only to be interrupted by a very panicky AJ in the adjacent room.

"Fuck...wait, fuck, damnit! Mike, up! It's - shit, probably past noon!"

Amelia couldn't help the grin at AJ's panic waking up before she heard the thud of the blonde falling off the couch, the raven haired vampire appearing in the kitchen two seconds later.

"Sorry, didn't realise we'd stayed in the living room all night. Is there still- oh, yes." Immediately grabbing for one of the glasses of blood, he smiled a hello to Amelia and Michael before turning at the sound of a yawn and footsteps.

Adeline was staggering into the kitchen rubbing her eyes and trying to detangle her curls, pausing only to glare at Mike.

"I love you, but you're an asshole. Did you really have to teleport like that?"

She took the chair nearest her as Mike handed her the glass Michael had poured.

"Sorry princess, but you startled me first."

"So it's an eye for an eye then? Now if you were smart, you'd just do some illusion trick or something, you know how I've missed seeing that." She countered, drinking after.

Amelia rolled her eyes. Even this early in the morning, the playful banter was getting annoying.

"I think she's right." Amelia began, watching how Mike's face turned when she said it.

"You haven't done anything showy in a while, last we saw was - I don't even remember, do you, AJ?"

"Not really, ooh, pancakes! On the other hand...maybe not. I've read too much to think eating that's a good idea." Adeline's entire expression changed at remembering something that apparently had been both entertaining and mind scarring at the same time.

All three immediately sighed, Mike snickering after.

"What, too afraid maple syrup's gonna get stuck in your hair?"

After putting her glass back in the sink, Adeline gets up and hugs Amelia good morning, having forgotten to do so when she walked in the room. Though it takes a few seconds once the vampire's arms are around her to realise what she meant, it eventually clicks.

"Guys, don't you dare-" Amelia interjects upon understanding, knowing AJ that's exactly why she's mentioned it.

"I mean I like maple flavoured things but I'd rather get it from whiskey, we got any Crown Maple?"

This time it's Michael who laughs.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, mate but you're not drinking today. Amelia had something planned for the two of you," he says with a quick glance at Amelia, who mouths a 'thank you' before nodding.

"Yeah, AJ, I figured we'd check and see if there were any new hunts for us. Y'know, to make money." She pauses, grabbing for her phone to pull up the pair's business email. "And I just really feel like taking a long walk, maybe along the lake so we can collect stones, we haven't done that since we were in Cali." She adds after a minute, hoping that she can at least entice the blonde to get outside.

"Outside? But-" the youngest vampire in the room was quick to protest.

"What happened to gotta catch 'em all, huh? Maybe there'll be a Blastoise by the lake!"

"Yeah, and Giratina is in the basement," Adeline deadpanned, causing the other two to laugh. "But I mean, yeah, if it'll let me catch pokemon and we can go over possible cases, I'm in. Guess we'll be back later?"

She grabs for her phone, firing up the app before nearly screeching in excitement.

"HOLY SHIT THERE'S A SHAYMIN NEARBY! LEGENDARY LET'S GO!"

"Not wearing that you won't be." With a snap of his fingers, Mike's blocking the doorway to the backyard, arms crossed over his chest. Somehow Adeline thinks of William, and how he'd insist whatever she was wearing often wasn't good enough for the day's activities, or that it was 'too human' looking.

Fast forward two years later and she's back in sweatpants and low slung tops, chuck taylors and distressed jeans and band tees, with a few new tattoos to match.

"What, I too human looking this time?" Her tone is sharp, it's as though it's a triggered memory causing her to revert, and the others sense this.

Mike's laugh is soft as he walks towards her, smirking slightly in amusement.

"Still in your pajamas, babe."

Her head tilts, "What? No I'm-" she looks down, half wondering how she ended up in one of his shirts and boxers before she realized he must have changed her after she fell asleep. "Oh. Yeah, alright. Amelia, I'll be down in five? Gonna throw jeans and a tee on. And grab an extra charger, damn app kills the battery quick."

With a soft *pop*, she snaps and is on the next floor, leaving the demon hostess with the two vampires.


	2. Chapter 2

When the two finally made it down the winding path down to the lake and wood trails, the sky had seemed to be brightening up some despite the overcast. It was this kind of weather that allowed Adeline to be outside in the first place, being any overtly direct sunlight would burn quite literally.

It was the only curse of being a vampire she hated, stuck indoors between dawn and dusk for her own protection. It wasn't that twilight sparkle in the sun bullshit, it was scathing blisters and smoking skin that required bandages and more often than not had her whiner than usual.

"C'mon, where the fuck are you you nature loving hedgehog, you're down to two footprints," the blonde grumbled as she walked in circles at the fork between the slope down to the sand and the path into the forest.

"You're really not going to look up and just admire the beauty around you?" Amelia teased, though she was opening the emails at the same time.

"Hey, didn't Patrick say he was going to email us a few weeks ago?" The brunette sits where she was standing, shoes disturbing the beginning of the sand line.

"No? It's been years since we've talked to him Rae."

It's a curt response as AJ picks up a larger stick nearby, tapping the end where she stands to avoid pacing. "Damn, this is - fucking hell, that can't be!"

Her voice is up an octave as the stick, or branch rather, goes flying somewhere into the trees, she taking off at a sprint into the woods.

Amelia sighs, clicking the lock button on her phone as she follows, her phone beeping to signal the arrival of new email.

When she finally catches up to the younger vampire she notices the blonde is ogling at her phone more than ever before.

"What, who is it this time?"

Two seconds later a radar screen is shoved into her face, and her eyes widen.

"Arcanine. You seriously bolted for a fluffy overly large wolf instead of the legendary nature hedgehog you have a fucking tattoo of?" Amelia can't help shaking her head, unlocking her phone to indeed find an email from Patrick.

"In my defense, Arcanine was supposed to be a gen one legendary."

To: Amelia Clearwater,

Cc: Adeline Winters

Subject: Territory news

Sorry to bother you two with such odd news, but it seems like vampires aren't that common in our neck of the woods anymore. The punk and stoner fights have worn down in central Chicago, and there's no need to worry about the Dandies. But what's more concerning is the new threat. It's not something we're used to, being it's usually further North.

Wolves. Not sure if they're shifters or werewolves as I haven't seen a human form yet from them, but they're twice the size of the normal dog if you're thinking like a golden retriever or husky. I could just be over speculating as there hasn't been much here, but just thought I'd let you know.

Seeing as you're all by the woods and all, you might see them if they're spawning south by us. Say hey to the boys for us, and if you ever make it back down here feel free to stop by. I'm always up for Geno's East.

All the best,

Patrick

"Shit. AJ, not so fast around here, you know there's actual wild creatures out here and not just an augmented reality app you need to be worried about?" Amelia warned, but when she finally looked up, the blonde was nowhere to be seen.

Running ahead into the woods, Amelia couldn't keep herself from worrying. It was only late morning, surely whatever was out there wouldn't be too irritated if found this early. Still, she looked around, calling for the younger girl.

When ten minutes had gone by and the was no answer, she ran back and up the path to the house, taking the back porch deck steps two at a time to the back door.

"AJ's gone."

At Amelia walking in the door, Mike faceplams at the sentence.

"What's it this time? That damn app again?" he tried, running a hand through his hair as he sighed, getting up to look out the window toward the forest.

"She went to chase an Arcanine in the woods, but I have no idea how far she got. I forgot you guys can cover some crazy distances in short amounts of time." She leaned against the counter, trying to catch her breath before reaching for the cabinet to grab a glass of water.

"How long's it been?"

"Fifteen, twenty minutes? I couldn't find her. You and Michael might be able to if you look, you can cover more ground than I can."

He nodded, getting up.

"Michael went into town, guess Adeline wanted to make dinner tonight or something and we don't have half the things she needs, though why she's cooking when we don't need to eat is beyond me. Well, you do, but that's besides the point." he added.

Walking to the door, he noticed Amelia hung back.

"You're not coming back out? Thought you like the outdoors?"

She shrugged. "I've done enough running for today. I'm gonna grab my sudoku book, put on a few meditations and find a few ebooks to read. There weren't any emails about cases, asides from an update from Chicago but that was it."

Mike turned around, eyebrow raised. "Chicago?"

"Yeah, Patrick basically warned us about wolves in the area, apparently they're coming into the city more and more. It's probably just due to overpopulation." She relayed, refilling the glass before heading to walk out of the room.

"It's probably nothing we need to worry about. We could help with that though if we wanted, although animal blood is just...not as good." he commented, making a face before continuing, "Could make a few pelts into decor though, I'll have to keep that in mind. You remember how Adeline would never leave that damn fox pelt alone after William took it off his shoulder?"

The only response he got was a laugh from the other room.

"Here, Archinine-nine-nine. Come here you gigantic furry monster..." Adeline singsonged as she walked further into the forest, having taken off on Amelia atleast ten minutes earlier.

The tracking aspect of the app had made following the Pokemon much easier, but it was down to one footprint and she couldn't figure out where it was.

And then the rustling started.

Faint, but enough to recognize that leaves were being crunched underneath the boughs of the firs that covered most of the forest near the group's northern territory home.

Twigs snapped, leaves crunched - Adeline swore she would have felt her heart rate pickup if she would have been able to feel it still. That was the thing she couldn't get used to. The fact that her heart still technically beat to move blood through her body and her lungs still took in air had taken some getting used to after the change, as it was explained that her body would continue to act human in those respects and she could just disregard its functionality at will.

Short verse being that she could ignore the steady thump of her heart and the expansion of her lungs for that moment on.

Sure, there's still times when she'll really get startled at whatever happens and then on instinct she'll start counting her heartbeats or realizing she's actually holding her breath for once, but most of the time she just doesn't pay attention to it.

"Fuck, Amelia's right. There is shit out here."

Turning around, she found the patch that was rustling, and moved some of the leaves, only to have something dart out at her!

Sprinting down to catch up with it, she grinned when she noticed it looked like a small dog.

"Here, puppers, I'm not gonna hurt you!" She called, bending down to be more on it's level. It seemed to playfully run up to her and then back away before doing it again.

Before she knew it the dog had climbed into her lap and had started licking her face, making her easily forget about the Arcanine as she stood up and teleported back to the house still holding it.

Amelia had been stretched out on the couch reading on her phone when AJ teleported in on the other end of the sofa, causing the brunette to shriek in surprise.

"WHAT THE FUCK AJ?!"

The blonde giggled, adjusting the animal in her arms.

"I'm back? And look who I found? It's not an Arcanine, but it's pretty fucking close. Can we keep it?"

"What th-"

"There you are." Leaning against the doorframe, Mike crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. "Was beginning to think you weren't coming back with that stupid app."

"Yeah but look what I found!" Holding the dog up, she grins - it's childlike in its innocence, and for a moment Mike is almost taken back to the days in which he'd bring inebriated humans back for William, reacting in the same way.

"It's fluffy, smells absolutely revolting and probably will try to kill us in our sleep given that thing is our mortal enemy. Please, please don't say-"

"CAN WE KEEP IT?!" She nearly squealed, reverting in full entirety to the way she'd been before William had turned her - or rather, those nights when he did something so unbelievably human that she had to react that way.

"No."

To both Amelia and Adeline's surprise, the former second in command's tone was firm, leaving no room for argument. It was almost as though he'd learned something over the years of listening to William whenever he himself was reprimanded for something.

"But-" Looking up at Mike, the blonde's smile dropped into a pout, her lower lip quivering slightly as her eyes widened and eyelashes batted, imitating that of a puppy dog, much like the one she was holding.

"Adeline, don't look at me like that. You know." He continued, trying to hide the sigh that followed.

Her smile appeared again, tugging at the corners of her mouth as she held the dog up next to her face, forcing the elder vampire to look at the two of them making the same expression, a few seconds before the girl actually whimpered.

"Pl-Please?!"

Amelia had to laugh, she'd never seen the blonde this adamant about something.

It was a few minutes later when Mike finally cracked, dropping his head into his hands as he sat next to Amelia on the couch.

"Fine. Goddamn, I hate when you do this." Nearly a laugh now as Mike's head lifts up as AJ walks forward, his arms automatically raising as she more-than-predictably places the dog in his arms.

"This might not be so bad. Could help with hunting, there's a forest so we don't necessarily need to keep it in the house...we're getting a collar and tags for it though." He added as an afterthought.

"But you're really going to let her keep it? God, if you were William, you probably would've insisted it be killed." Amelia pointed out.

"And that's why I'm not," Mike only shrugged. "She deserves to be treated better than all the shit he put her through - you as well."

"Well thanks. We both would have never heard the end of it otherwise."

AJ giggled. "Yeah you would have. After I got my way."


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Amelia was preparing to go out for a run. The sun was just begging to dip under the horizon and since their property bordered a forest, it made for a truly picturesque jog. She put on a hoodie to mask the chill of the fall air and adjusted her headband. She walked downstairs where she found her roommates sitting around, talking.

"Where are you going?" Mike asked.

"Out," was all she said.

"Be careful out there," Michael said as she placed her headphone in her ears.

"Don't worry," Amelia replied. "I'm sure that if something goes wrong, she'll let me know." She said as she tapped her temple.

With that, she set out the back door and down off the path with music ringing in her ears.

It had just rained the night before and the forest still smelled damp and musky, a favorite scent of Amelia's. She started off at a slow jog, content with looking around at the scenery. She loved the way that the sunlight filtered through the trees and cast everything in an orange glow. After about ten minutes, she increased her pace, breathing steadily in through her nose and out through her mouth.

The further that she ran in the forest, the thicker the trees became. Soon, she came to a fork in the road and decided to go left. The incline of the area dipped and rose with the slightly hilly terrain. Deciding to stop for a moment, she took a small break and stretched. As she bent down to touch her toes, she got the sense that someone was watching her. She stood up and picked her arms up overhead and scanned the forest. There was nothing for miles except trees and the occasional critter. Shaking her head, she began to run deeper into the forest. As she continued to go deeper into the forest, Amelia noticed that in addition to getting darker, the forest grew quieter as well. Nothing moved.

By this time, the sun had almost completely set, making it slightly more difficult for her to see. Amelia decided that she had run far enough and turned around to begin her trek back. In order to compensate for her eyesight, she removed her headphones and placed them in her pocket. She returned to a slow jog pace as she made her way back the way she had come. Though she kept her eyes on the trail in front of her, every so often she thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eyes. After the third time that had happened, she stopped and scanned the forest. She gasped as she turned.

To her left, about 100 feet in front of her, was a man. He had shoulder length blonde hair and he almost seemed to be glaring at her. She tried to move towards him but he ran off before she could say anything.

After that, she opted to pick up the pace. She had just managed to make it back up the hill when she felt a burning pain in her shoulder. She screamed and stopped moving. Glancing down, she noticed the bolt of a crossbow protruding from her muscle. As she raised her hand to try and break off the end of the arrow, another bolt came whizzing past her and stuck into the tree ten feet in front of her. All of the sudden, she was able to sense many other presences in the forest with her.

She began to run as fast as she could as more bolts flew past her. In her haste, she stopped paying attention to the ground and tripped over a tree root. She went flying and winced as she felt the skin on her leg tear and something in her ankle pop. She could hear footsteps approaching, so she began to mutter the demonic words that would allow her to camouflage her presence. She crawled behind the tree and stayed as still as she could. When she peeked her head out from behind the tree, she could see a group of men approaching. There were about 10 in all. Some carried crossbows, others had rifles and various other weapons. Amelia recognized the man from earlier, with the dirty blond hair.

"There's no sign of her, Anders," one man said.

"Then spread out and find her!" said the blond man insisted

The men immediately dispersed in different directions while the blond man stayed where he was. He sniffed the air and Amelia noticed his eyes glowing. He began to make his way over towards where Amelia was hidden. She dared not even breathe. As he peered down at where she was sitting, his brows furrowed.

"Hm, your scent stops right here. Strange," he muttered.

As he knelt down to examine further, one of his men came jogging over to him.

"Anders, I think I found something!" the man said, holding up a pair of headphones

Amelia cursed her luck but with the man called Anders distracted, she slipped silently away.

Soon, she made it back to the house. Michael met her at the door.

"Are you okay? I smelled blood."

She shook her head as she limped inside. Mike and AJ were nowhere to be seen.

"They went out hunting. What happened to your ankle?" Michael asked, noting her limp

Amelia collapsed into the kitchen chair.

"Something attacked me," Amelia said, gesturing to the crossbow bolt in her shoulder.

Michael furrowed his brows. "Did you get a good look at them?"

Amelia shook her head. "No. There was a group of about 10 men in the woods. I think they were some kind of hunters."

"Interesting."

Amelia recounted her tale as Michael worked on healing her injuries, wincing only when he had to pull the crossbow bolt from her arm.

"I wouldn't go back there if I were you," he said and she nodded.

"Yeah I don't think I will be. The strange thing was though, I don't think those guys were human. I got a different kind of energy from them and it's not one that is familiar to me."

"Well whoever they are, I'm glad that you're okay," Michael said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Not five minutes later, the other two came back, Mike carrying Adeline - who was nursing the same wound Amelia had been given, although the bolt was in her abdomen judging by how red the hands splayed over her stomach were.

"Jesus Christ, thought this area was someplace safe," Mike growled as he adjusted her before looking at Amelia and Michael, concern flashing across his face.

"How-"

"Shoulder. I can move, I'll be ok. Where did-"

"We went further north near the country line, were on the way back about two miles from the house when she was hit. Fucker had a crossbow but I took him out. But there's not one person, it's a group." His voice floated from the living room where he'd set Adeline down on the couch, snapping to draw the curtains before figuring out how to proceed.

"Hey Amelia?"

She was up before Mike could finish asking for help, taking in the sight as the younger girl lay rigid on the couch, hand still pressing to the area the bolt had entered in an effort to dull the pain.

"First thing's first, get her shirt off. It doesn't look too deep right now but we can see better when there's no fabric." Amelia instructed, completely calm as her training kicked in. Prior to becoming an assassin, she'd gone to school for nursing, which the demon's knowledge easily helped her succeed in. Plus, that helped with the various injuries they'd get from jobs.

It still didn't make seeing her friend hurt like this as less hard to look at, but knowing she knew how to fix it eased her mind.

"God, why does this always happen!" An exasperated and pained whine leaves AJ, every muscle in her body tensing as her shirt's ripped to get it off her.

"It's happened more tha-" Michael started before noticing the scar that already ran just above the impact site, it was clean cut and had healed nicely despite it being noticeable.

"Katana, Wh-when we fought F-Fall Out Boy."

Both boys eyes go wide, remembering that fight. It had been her stubbornness and complete need to prove to William that she could handle things that had gotten her hurt in the first place. If there had been backup, maybe it wouldn't have happened. But as always, you couldn't have expected the most power hungry couple in Chicago to not give in to the itch to fight.

The crossbow bolt had entered clean, there wasn't a splinter in sight. The only danger that was immediately present was risk of infection through exposure, and then bloodloss once the bolt was removed. Not that that could kill- well, it could.

"Well now we can see it, now what?"

Amelia turns to look at Mike, who actually looks genuinely concerned for once.

"Even though she's immortal it's gonna sting like a son of a bitch to remove since the head of the bolt is like a shark tooth. It's what happened to my shoulder, you have to get in one go or you're only increasing the chance for infection due to the lacerating nature of its design. Thank god it's pretty central, doesn't look like any major organs or bloodlines were hit. But she's gonna need blood regardless."

"Got it."

Not even three seconds later with absolutely no hesitation, his wrist is lifted to his mouth, but before he can bite down Amelia stops him.

"Wrist isn't going to be a fast enough source. There's larger arteries and veins in your arm. See where her tattoo is? There's an arterial line right below it at the crease of the elbow."

He nods, moving his arm and head to open up the spot she's indicated will probably allow her to heal fastest with.

"Michael, prop her head up, there's pillows behind you." Amelia told the daywalker as he followed in after, he grabbing them and gently propping the injured vampire's head slightly.

"Mike, I need you to be behind her so you can angle your arm where she can bite without straining forward, it'll cause the bolt to shift. If you kneel behind the arm of the couch it should work."

He again nodded, thankfully to be able to take his eyes off the scar and blood decorating the girl's rapidly paling skin.

As soon as he knelt, her eyes fluttered back open, scanning the room worriedly before they caught his gaze, a weak smile gracing her features.

"I've gotten stop getting hurt."

He laughed softly at this, thumb brushing across one of her temples as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"We're gonna get you fixed up, hun. Sure you're used to this by now."

She managed to roll her eyes at the implication that her jobs often wound up with her injured. While that wasn't completely true, it got her to giggle, which only made the pain that much more prominent.

At the sudden snapping of the handle of the bolt, her eyes are drawn to Amelia, who holds the feathered end in one hand.

"There, now I can get at the rest of it. AJ, I'm gonna pull the bolt out. I need to get it in one go, so I need you to stay as still as you can. Mike's there to distract you. Look at him and bite down into his arm, you're going to need blood."

The blond made a noise in acknowledgement before her mouth had closed around the now-punctured spot in Mike's arm, he hissing softly when her fangs slid completely in and she'd begun to drink.

Mike looked up at Amelia, who was looking at Michael and then back to him.

"Now."

Without counting, Amelia gave one hard tug on the rest of the bolt. It came free easily, Mike cursing when AJ's bite became rougher and she tried to move off the couch to deal with the fluctuation in the pain level.

"Hey. Hey...babe, look at me. Look at me," he coaxed, her eyes glassy and tearing as hazel irises found his own and his free hand lifted to lace their fingers together, she immediately nearly dislocating a few of his fingers due to being able to sense said pain despite being immortal.

It hurt to breath. And she didn't even need to in the first place!

"I know you can't ignore it this time. I know you want to." He pressed another kiss to her forehead.

"Michael, can you get the rest of the stuff you fixed me up with? I think stitches are probably a good idea just based on the location. Gauze too, though the blood should help close up the deepest part of this."

He nodded, taking of for the kitchen to grab the medical supply box off the table.

"She's ok?" Was the next thing out of Amelia's mouth as Michael came back into the room, setting the box down and digging through stuff.

"Yeah, think so. Her bite isn't as hard."

"Good, keep her calm. Stitching is probably going to hurt just because of the size of the damage."

Working quickly as long as the youngest vampire remained calmed, they were able to put her stitches in without any major problems. After it had been done, Amelia sighed as she cleaned up what remained of the supplies.

"Mike, let her rest. She's not going to want to do anything but lay still for a few days after this."

"I wasn't- what kind of asshole takes advantage of a girl in pain like that?" Mike's tone was taken aback, and then he remembered how William would often do just that - after a hunt, Adeline would come home limping or bleeding, and the next thing he knew, he'd hear her screaming William's name from their room before she came down the next morning even more bruised up.

"William would," Adeline laughed softly, trying to set up against the couch cushions.

"Here, I got you, babe. Come on, let's go get you all comfy."

She exhaled with a small grin. "Only if you don't leave. Promise I don't feel like doing anything, I just want you near me. Stroke my hair or sing or something."

"Promise."


End file.
